When 30-year-old Surabhi Kulkarni, a private firm employee from Nandini Layout, received a WhatsApp message offering an online part-time job to earn quick money, she replied immediately, thinking of making some extra income through moonlighting. She checked for details and was told to like and share some Instagram links to earn ₹70 per task.
Ms. Kulkarni then got onto the job and even earned quick returns. Little did she know that it was a trap as the caller made another proposition of earning a huge sum in no time through online trading investments of up to 40%.
Excited by this, she convinced her family and invested ₹21.03 lakh through three different bank accounts. Within minutes, she realised that she had been cheated as the money and the accused vanished. A shocked Ms. Kulkarni rushed to the North Division Cybercrime Police Station, where she realised that what happened to her wasn’t an isolated case.
